Traveling is so much fun, and the best part about it is the shopping you get to do. But not at airports, of course. Never the airports.
The street seller at your vacation spot won’t charge you as much as an airport does. You thought movie theaters were bad. Try visiting a shop at an airport and prepare yourself to faint dramatically at the prices of a single bar of candy.
Of course, you walk away haughtily. Deciding that you would rather get something on a plane than spend money at these shops that sell souvenirs at the price of a two-night stay at a luxury resort.
But then your flight gets delayed. Not by a measly hour but a couple of hours. You’re hungry. Your stomach is growling. The small water bottle you carried with you is almost empty.
A bottle of water can’t be that expensive, can it? Don’t worry, they are not that expensive, of course. Nobody wants to deal with dehydrated passengers and risk an emergency. But the higher-ups do want you to remember that you are at an airport and therefore must pay at least four times the price you would pay for a bottle of drinking water.
Hungry? Visit the fast food franchises for a quick bite. They have the same menu, but the prices? Prepare to watch your hard-earned money fly away to buy a soggy burger and fries combo that comes with a diluted soda.
The meal manages to sustain you until the eventual arrival of the plane, and the boarding begins.
Unless you are with a kid who demands you feed them candy. Then off you go to a Duty-free store to buy candy that you would have paid much less for at your local supermarket. But you’re trying to wean your kid off sweets and didn’t buy any candy, and now they are fussy, you’re exhausted, the flight is delayed, you just learned there are no meals going to be served onboard, and yes, you forgot your neck pillow.
Your kid will at least stay quiet if you give them the candy because they promised they would. A regular 10 bucks candy now costs you 50 bucks. You wonder if you have any money left to actually spend on your vacation.
So…what is the point of the airport prices?
It’s to remind you that vacations are a luxury. You chose to spend that money to travel the world instead of investing or barely surviving the economy. You decided that travel is just the break you need for your mental health.
But the airport has to nudge you with a reality check right before you board the plane. It waves its large red stickers, reminding you that traveling is expensive and flights get delayed, and you must always give in and buy their expensive products because that is how these shops pay rent.
Next time, pack in your own snacks. You may still have to buy that water bottle from the airport, but at least you don’t have to go hungry and give in to those skyrocketing prices for a sandwich.
You are unlikely to find a comfortable seat at the airport, so why not give your neck a break? Check out this Amazon Pick below.
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